


I Need You So Much Closer

by Worlds_Okayest_Goalie



Series: Bear With Me [1]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Joe Thornton adopting any rookie come hell or high water, Magic, Team as Family, Were-Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-15 05:46:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29554431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Worlds_Okayest_Goalie/pseuds/Worlds_Okayest_Goalie
Summary: Bruins captains are eternally cursed and Joe Thornton is actually pretty cool with it. Mario Ferraro has a lot of questions, starting with "What the fuck?" and "Am I on the menu for dinner?"
Relationships: Joe Thornton & Mario Ferraro
Series: Bear With Me [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2173029
Comments: 39
Kudos: 121





	I Need You So Much Closer

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, the title is from Transatlanticism because I am consumed with the concept of yearning for intimacy. This is not a pandemic problem, just a me problem lmao

Mario makes it almost all the way to his car, texting his sister and paying almost no attention in the parking lot, before he realizes he doesn’t have his car keys in his pocket. He sighs and turns back around. 

He sweeps the hall slowly, tracing his way back to the locker room. He’s pretty sure he grabbed his keys from his stall, so he probably just dropped it somewhere. 

He spots the metallic gleam on the floor by locker room doors and bends down to grab his key ring where it fell. Someone bumps him from behind, hard enough that he has to catch himself against the wall before he turns around indignantly.

Whatever annoyed remark he was going to make to the joker who thought it would be funny to shove him dies unspoken in favor of screaming. 

It’s a bear. A whole fucking bear. It huffs at him, curling its lip slightly.

He pants, gaze darting all around like there’s someone who can save him from the goddamn gigantic fucking bear breathing hotly into his face. His brain is frozen, any trained reflexes completely lost to him. He moves slowly, trying to edge far enough away from the wall that he can run. The bear moves with him, head tilted slightly as it keeps its nose pointed at Mario’s sternum. 

There’s a rack of sticks and Mario reaches for it blindly, backing up with his eyes on the bear. “Make yourself look big” is the usual advice when facing big predators, right? He sends up a silent apology to whatever teammate’s stick he’s grabbing and swings it wildly, praying he can at least create some distance.

The bear slams one giant paw down on the stick, ripping it out of Mario’s hand. He panics and runs, sprinting down the hall. He swings around the corner as fast as he can, but he can hear the noise behind him and he doesn’t dare turn around. 

He trips and falls, crashing into the hard concrete floors on his hands and knees. He’d scramble back to his feet, but there’s a bear looming over him, front paws parallel with his shoulders. The bear pushes him onto his side and he curls into the fœtal position, hoping this will be mercifully quick. 

“Hey, buddy,” Burnzie’s voice calls out from one of the side halls and Mario is filled with both renewed terror and hope. He won’t die alone, but now Burnzie’s in danger too. He tries to yell, to warn him, but his voice is gone and all he manages is a sad croaking sound. 

“Jesus,” Burnzie says from like two feet away and then his big, tattooed arms appear around the bear’s neck. “You gotta stop doing this, bud.”

Instead of stabbing the bear or some other wilderness explorer shit, Burnzie just sticks his hand in the bear’s neck ruff and toys with the fur as he gently tugs the bear backwards.The bear snorts and sits back on its haunches. Mario tells himself that the tears in his eyes are from the sudden exposure to the hallway fluorescents and not desperate relief. 

Burnzie pats the bear with some finality on its chest and squats down next to Mario, his back turned trustingly to the giant fucking predator sitting in the hallway. 

“Sorry about that, Mario,” Burnzie says calmly, pulling Mario up to sit properly. “Joe always forgets that none of you pay attention in the rookie trainings.”

“What?” Mario breathes. His hands are clenched around Burnzie’s arms and he can’t make himself break eye contact with the beast in the hall.

“That’s Joe,” Burnzie says. He very politely isn’t mentioning the fact that Mario is on the verge of tears and Mario appreciates that, but it doesn’t make Burnzie less of a lunatic. “Remember they told you in the training not to run if you came across a large animal?” 

Mario nods slowly. It’s only Burnzie’s hands on him that stop him from trying to run again.

Burnzie sighs. “That was less a mountain lion warning and more of a Joe warning. Joe,” he calls over his shoulder, “apologize for scaring the kid.”

The bear makes a little groaning noise and rolls forward to prop its head on Burnzie’s shoulder. Up close, Mario can see a paler stripe of fur down its neck. It bumps its big nose against Mario’s hand gently and rumbles quietly.

“It’s Joe?” Mario shakes his head. “No, Burnzie, come on, this is too far for a prank.”

“It’s not a prank,” Burnzie says, sounding almost disappointed. “He’s not going to hurt you because he’s only a part-time bear.” He frowns. “Joe, lie down.” The bear rolls over easily and Burnzie pulls Mario around and props him against the bear’s stomach. “Sit still, kid. You’re fucking shaking.”

Mario looks at his hands when Burnzie pulls away and he is. He can feel the bear’s warmth distantly, but it’s like he’s floating away. He feels light, untethered. A heavy paw landing across his lap holds him steady when he closes eyes from dizziness. 

“Here,” Burnzie says, sounding like he’s underwater. Something cold gets pressed into Mario’s hand and he opens his eyes again. “Drink the Gatorade. You’re okay.”

Mario drinks slowly. Eventually, his head clears. There’s no way the Sharks could get a real bear for a prank and the bear breathing behind him is very, very real. “What the fuck? What the actual fuck?” 

Burnzie moves Mario over slightly so he can also lean against the bear’s broad side. The bear plops its head down on the floor and sighs. “I can try to answer your questions,” Burnzie says, wrapping an arm around Mario’s shoulder. “Some things might have to wait until Joe’s back as a human, though.”

Mario takes that in. “Okay, when is that?”

“Hard to say. It’s usually a few hours. It’s been longer with Patty gone though.”

Mario inhales and exhales deliberately. There’s a faint smell of grass, which Mario assumes is the bear, and Burnzie’s usual post-practice sweaty smell. It’s strange how quickly this seems normal. Mario asks quietly, “Does everyone know?”

“Most of the guys know. We don’t have a lot of newbies, you know. Training staff stays out of it, but we haven’t had new team staff in years, so they’ve all seen him go full bear at some point or another.”

“And, uh, why is he a bear?” It feels like an important question. It’s probably more important to suss out whether Joe has ever eaten anyone, but he’s not sure he wants to know while he’s sitting in the bear’s paws. Joe’s paws? Fuck, this is a mess.

“No clue,” Burnzie admits. “Something to do with being Bruins captain for sure, but we don’t know a lot. He mostly shifts when he’s lonely or feeling kinda down.”

“Oh.” Mario turns slightly to look at the bear’s face. He doesn’t know what a sad bear looks like, but he does hate the idea of Joe feeling sad.

“This is just how he’s been at the beginning of every season since Patty left,” Burnzie says bluntly. His mouth twists. “He’s happy to be back on the ice, but it reminds him of Patty. He’ll be fine, though.”

Mario rests a tentative hand on the bear—Joe’s furry elbow. “Yeah? And he doesn’t eat people because he’s sad, right?”

Burnzie laughs and the bear makes a huffy barking noise that approximates laughter. “No, he’s never eaten anyone. If it makes you uncomfortable, you can avoid him off the ice. Some guys have. He won’t force it,” Burnzie says pointedly. “He just followed you today because he worries about the rookies no matter what form he’s in.”

The bear pulls its enormous front paws up under its chin, freeing Mario entirely. He looks at it, at Joe and braces himself with a careful hand on Joe’s soft shoulder so he can stand. “I think I get it. It’s a lot, but I get it.”

Burnzie smiles at him. “You alright to drive home? I can leave Joe here with whoever else is still in the building and take you back if you need.”

“No, no,” Mario reassures him. He shakes the Gatorade bottle. “I’m all good now.”

“Alright. Stay safe,” Burnzie says and then he leans over and rubs Joe’s belly. Joe rolls onto his back goofily and that’s the last thing Mario sees before he turns and leaves, a bear with all four paws in the air submitting to a surprising amount of baby talk and fur ruffling.

***

They lose a couple regular games in a row after being hot garbage in the preseason. Mario’s fucking grateful he didn’t fuck up badly enough to get shoved in front of the press, so he can strip down and go home as fast as possible. Tomáš catches him on the way out of the locker room, looking tired but happy. Far too happy for a 5-1 loss. 

“Wait,” Tomáš says, tugging on his arm. “It’s hugging time.”

“It’s what?” Mario lets Tomáš propel him along. He mostly knows the arena by now and they’re headed towards some of the lower offices. 

“Time to not be sad,” Tomáš informs him, shoving him towards a door. 

“That’s not an ans—“ Mario stops abruptly when he opens the door on two very large bears. The lights are slightly dimmed, but there’s no mistaking those shapes. “Tomáš?” He turns around to find all of Tomáš’ things flung against the nearest wall and a small bear toddling past his knees into the room. “Okay, how fucking many of you are there?” 

“Don’t just stand in the doorway,” Kevin says, pushing his way in.

“Oh hey,” Brenden says, ushering Martin into the room. “Glad you’re joining us, Mario.”

“Tomáš invited me?” Mario says inanely.

Brenden and Martin change in a flash, curling up near the others. Kevin tucks his very human self under Jumbo’s paw and looks entirely ready to go to sleep when Tomáš snuggles up to the two of them. They’re all on some kind of padded mat, something that gives way, but doesn’t seem to get punctured by the bears’ formidable claws.

“Hey,” Marcus says, patting Mario on the shoulder as he wanders in. He curls around Joe’s head and goes still, almost nose to nose. The other very large bear is still sitting upright, but it yawns and stretches its limbs a little. Mario catches sight of the missing teeth, which make the bear a lot easier to identify. He sighs. It has been a fucking shitty month and frankly, he doesn’t want to be alone. He thought the Sharks might go out and drink, but apparently the plan is to stay in and...be bears. Whatever. Mario can roll with it. He’s adaptable. Still, when he leans against the wall next to Burnzie, he makes sure to prod him. “We  **_will_ ** be having a talk about what information you need to share.”

Cooch snorts in the doorway. “He didn’t want to freak you out. I don’t think he expected you’d come join us here.”

Burnzie makes a little grumbling noise at Cooch and rearranges himself so he can lie down with his head across Mario’s thighs. It’s heavy, for sure, but it’s also warm. Mario floats his hand in the air for a moment before he finally settles it behind Burnzie’s ears. Cooch shifts and steps all over Joe so he can lie perpendicularly on top of Burnzie. 

Something about the quiet sounds of bears and people breathing makes things outside the room seem very far away. He runs a careful hand over the curve of Burnzie’s round ear, which elicits a noise almost like a purr. He stops, unsure, but Kevin waves at him sleepily. “If you keep doing that they’ll all fall asleep.”

Mario tries again and while the rumbling feels weird against his legs, it’s steady and soothing; he thinks it’s okay if he closes his eyes for a while too.

***

Marcus and Kevin both shift at the same time after a bad game and there’s a big celebration. Even after a loss, there’s some joy in them joining the den of bears. Burnzie explains that Joe’s bear curse seems to be contagious after long exposure, so they’d expected Marcus and Kevin to shift sometime soon. Anyone who spends a long time with Joe gets the ability to become a bear eventually and Mario can understand why people would seek Joe out even knowing that. He’s warm and supportive and even when he’s a grizzly bear shoving Mario into the break room and demanding apples from the fridge, Mario does love him. There’s no teammate quite like Joe, is the consensus. It’ll be a long time before Mario’s spent enough time with Joe to even worry about being a bear, but at least all the cards are on the table now.

Joe is so happy when Patty comes back and Mario thinks that might be the end of the whole bear thing. The cuddling doesn’t seem to happen unless Joe decides it’s time.

They’re winning more games too, for a while. 

It doesn’t last, but Mario didn’t honestly expect it would. They’ve been shaky, even in victory, and their opponents know it too.

Mario sits in his stall and waits for his teammates to be done with the press. They have to bus back to the hotel and then they have an early morning flight tomorrow. He’s tired, from the travel, from the losing, from the endless checks into the board from men twice his size. He harbours a secret dream of turning into a bear and ripping Lucic’s head off. He keeps it to himself, but it’s fueling him until the All-Star break. 

Burnzie comes over and ruffles his curls. “Come on. You can make sad faces if Coach calls you out during tape, but until then, cheer up. We’re gonna get together in Joe’s room tonight.”

Mario furrows his brow. “We are?”

“Cuddle time,” Burnzie says seriously. “Come on.”

When they all filter off the bus at the hotel and claim their rooms, they all look equally tired and Coach tells them to get some sleep before their early morning wake up call. 

Mario dumps his bag on the bed and gets into sweatpants and a t-shirt before he makes his way to Joe’s room. Melker’s sitting outside, playing on his phone. He glances up and then nods at the propped open door. Presumably, he’s just there to make sure no one unexpected can walk into a room full of bears. 

Inside, all the furniture has been pushed back and the bears are all squished together in a heap. When Mario sits on the edge, one of them lifts a large paw and settles it on his head lightly, making a happy noise. He thinks it’s Patty and he reaches out to pet his chest softly. The bears are pretty tolerant of the humans, even if they occasionally step on a paw or tangle their fingers in fur, but Mario tries to be careful with his teammates no matter what form they’re in. “Hey,” he says quietly. The bear wraps an arm around him and pulls him close, delicate enough to not suffocate him, but enough to keep him within their cuddle pile. He’s used to this by now, knows they’ll let him squirm and wriggle until he’s comfortable. He’s still downright awful at telling them all apart and it’s worse in the dimness of the evening, but he feels pretty confident that Tomáš is the one head butting him in the back and insistently demanding to have his ears scratched. It’s kind of a thing now and Mario obliges. 

***

On the plane, often, Joe’s the only other one awake. In order to not annoy the living daylights out of his teammates, Mario tries to stay close to him so they can chat on red-eyes and keep each other entertained.

Mario wraps himself in the plane blanket and stretches his legs into the aisle, leaning on Joe’s shoulder. “What’s it like to be a bear?” he asks, somewhere over Nebraska. 

“It’s good,” Joe says, smiling so wide his eyes crinkle. “Couldn’t have picked a better curse. I get to keep my boys safe, make sure Tomáš gets the league-mandated amount of cuddles,” he jokes. “No, in truth, I didn’t appreciate it enough in Boston. It felt like a curse to be dragged into being a bear. Now I know that if I can’t handle heavy feelings, Burnzie will come over with some meat, or Patty will keep me company, or the rookies will insist on cuddling. The team makes it easier.”

Mario hums. It sounds nice, depending on his team.

“I don’t think as much when I’m a bear,” Joe says honestly, shifting so Mario’s more securely balanced on his shoulder and his neck is supported. Mario drapes half his blanket over Joe’s lap companionably. “It’s more instinct. I’m still me, but less complicated, I guess.”

***

Somewhere over Georgia, Mario asks, “How did the whole bear thing start?” He’s asked half the team this question and mostly received shrugs for his troubles. 

“Oh, tough question,” Joe sighs, bumping his cheek against the crown of Mario’s head. “A lot of people speculate it goes all the way back to Cleghorn. Some curse after he was traded by Montreal, though no one really knows who could have cursed him. He was a bit of a bastard, you know? More enemies than friends. They say since then, all Bruins captains are cursed to turn into bears. A lot of guys seem to pick up the curse when they play in Boston, but they usually lose it once they’re traded away or retire. It only seems to stick for the captains. Ally didn’t exactly warn me beforehand, but I figured it out pretty quickly. Management in Boston knows all of it, so they were prepared.”

“Sounds scary not to know,” Mario says. He likes having things planned and regulated. It’d be hard to suddenly be a bear. 

“Nah, it wasn’t really. Hard to be stressed when you’re a bear and your teammates can’t stop you from eating all the good snacks.” Joe muffles a laugh, but it doesn’t stop Cooch from glaring across the aisle at them for disturbing his sleep.

***

Somewhere over Oregon, Mario asks, “When did you realize guys on the Sharks would turn into bears too?”

“Ah, well, that was an accident. Most guys who left the Bruins either got repeatedly moved around the league or retired shortly after that. I’m one of the few who has stayed with the same team and kept playing. Poor Patty got the shock of a lifetime when he came over for dinner and we both shifted.”

“Dinner was still good,” Patty murmurs from the seat behind them and Joe beams.

“It took a little while, but once it became clear that the guys I was close to were all shifting, I had to talk to the team. I got lucky that they were all okay with their captain and former captain turning into bears.”

“And their starting goalie,” Patty corrects, groaning as he leans over the chairs. “I think goalie magic definitely had something to do with everyone being peachy keen with bear teammates.”

“It’s worked out alright,” Joe says agreeably. “Probably confused the fuck out of Boston when Tommy got traded to them and was already a bear, but it’s been alright.”

“Fuck Boston,” Patty says cheerfully. “They couldn’t appreciate a good thing and now we get to have more fun than they ever did.”

***

Patty gets traded at the deadline. Dilly’s gone too. It’s fuckin’ messy. Mario’s prepared for Joe to be despondent, the way he was when the season started and Patty wasn’t yet back with the Sharks. In truth, they’re all a little mopey. Half the team is broken physically already and a little extra emotional damage is par for the course at this point. 

Suffice to say, when they lose again, Mario goes straight from the showers to the den, stopping only to pull on a pair of team-branded leggings. He’s pretty confident the others will join him. He sits in a corner, propped up against the walls. 

He thinks he’s only closed his eyes for a quick minute, when he hears the door open. He blinks against the shaft of bright light that lances into the room. It looks like Burnzie in the doorway. 

Burnzie looks shocked, hesitating in the doorway. Mario sits up to try and say something, but he overbalances and falls. That seems to be enough for Burnzie to hurry in. He picks Mario up and the ground seems very, very far away. Mario’s quickly distracted by the way Burnzie smells like home and comfort and he presses his face into Burnzie’s chest. 

“Hey, bud,” Burnzie says gently. “This is new.”

Mario tries to say, “What’s new?” but his mouth doesn’t seem to be working and all that comes out is a series of grunts. 

Burnzie bounces him slightly. “Don’t worry. Let’s let everyone else join us. You always have to be an overachiever, huh?”

Figuring that out feels less important than rubbing his face on Burnzie’s shirt.

“What—“ someone says behind him. 

“Mario’s ahead of the curve,” Burnzie replies. “Can you find Joe?”

“Yeah, shit, I think he’s still showering after the press.”

“Don’t tell him why, just tell him I need a hand.”

Burnzie keeps talking as he sits down and Mario only catches about half of it. He keeps Mario propped against him and asks, hand on Mario’s head, “Are you feeling okay? Put your hand on my chest if you’re okay.”

It seems simple enough, so Mario plants a hand on Burnzie’s chest and then blinks. That’s a paw. With claws.

He flexed his fingers and the paw moves. He must make some noise because Burnzie shushes him. “You’re okay, you’re okay. We’ve got you. Joe’s gonna lose his mind when he sees your face.”

Mario wants to follow that train of thought, but Burnzie’s hand on his head does something magical and Mario just leans into that feeling. 

There’s a noise from the door and Burnzie holds Mario carefully when Mario turns to see what’s happening. Joe’s hair is still wet and something about him seems unsettled.

“What’s wrong?” Joe asks. Mario doesn’t want Joe to be sad, so he tries to climb over Burnzie’s knees, but Burnzie just scoops him up. 

“Nothing wrong,” Burnzie says. Mario can hear other people coming but he knows they’re not close. Not yet. “Looks like you have a new cub though.” He hands Mario over and Mario occupies himself with bumping his nose against Joe’s face. He smells nice now. Happy. Comforting. 

“Damn,” Joe says lowly. “He’s tiny.”

“Just young,” Burnzie says. Mario chuffs at him. He’s not that young. “Remember Tomáš?”

They move to the mats quickly and place Mario down for only a moment. They shift next to him and neither of them seem to mind when Mario uses his newly acquired claws to climb them. He falls off more than once, but it’s fine. This body is great at rolling. When they get tired of his antics, Joe grunts at him, tells him to come closer and then gets him pinned under a big paw. Mario sighs dramatically, but it’s warm and he’s not actually uncomfortable. Other bears come and say hi, sniffing him and nosing at him. They settle around him, his teammates and friends. He can’t be sad or lonely like this, not when he can hear them all breathing with him, feel their warmth as they keep him at the center of their pile. He turns his head to nose at Joe’s throat and unbidden, he feels a happy rumbling in his own chest. Mario kneads his paws against Joe, gradually slowing as he falls asleep. When he wakes, he’ll have a million questions, but in the den he is safe and warm and everything is okay for a little while.

**Author's Note:**

> Not mentioned in the fic, but obviously very real:
> 
> -Most Bruins captains are not having as much fun with this curse as Joe Thornton. Of course, few people on earth are ever having as much fun in life as Joe Thornton, so it sort of makes sense that he's the only one who can run with being a whole fucking bear sometimes.
> 
> -When Burnzie learned his new best friend was not only a Beard Buddy but also a Bear Buddy he was so very excited. He can wrassle a bear and then feed it snacks and that is the fuckin' life.
> 
> -Tomas was the CUTEST cub.
> 
> This was written in like five ish hours and edited late at night, so if you notice any weird grammar/spelling please let me know!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [So Come On](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29575770) by [McSpot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/McSpot/pseuds/McSpot)




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